25 Thich Hat Hanh Quotes That Will Change Your Life

Thich Hat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist who is known for his dedication to finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. He is a lifelong peace-activist who has traveled extensively giving talks on peace and spiritual values.

Born Nguyen Xuan Bao, in the city of Quang Ngai in Central Vietnam in 1926, Nhất Hạnh has spent most of his later life living in Plum Village spiritual community in the South of France.

Besides practicing meditation, Nhất Hạnh has published more than 100 books. He also founded a voluntary organisation which provided education, healthcare services, and improved local infrastructure in rural areas in Vietnam.

In honor of this zen master, below is our collection of enlightening, profound, and inspirational Thich Hat Hanh quotes, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Thich Hat Hanh Quotes that will change your life

1.) Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones. – Thich Hat Hanh

2.) People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. – Thich Hat Hanh

3.) People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don’t suffer anymore. – Thich Hat Hanh

4.) Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature. – Thich Hat Hanh

5.) We fear that this moment will end, that we won’t get what we need, that we will lose what we love, or that we will not be safe. Often, our biggest fear is the knowledge that one day our bodies will cease functioning. So even when we are surrounded by all the conditions for happiness, our joy is not complete. – Thich Hat Hanh

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6.) Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all we need the right view that transcends all notions including of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit. That kind of insight is crucial for transformation and healing. – Thich Hat Hanh

7.) True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There’s no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected. Once you are aware of that you are no longer caught in the idea that you are a separate entity. – Thich Hat Hanh

8.) In order to heal others, we first need to heal ourselves. And to heal ourselves, we need to know how to deal with ourselves. – Thich Hat Hanh

9.) Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. – Thich Hat Hanh

10.) It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems. – Thich Hat Hanh

11.) Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind. – Thich Hat Hanh

12.) When you look at the sun during your walking meditation, the mindfulness of the body helps you to see that the sun is in you; without the sun there is no life at all and suddenly you get in touch with the sun in a different way. – Thich Hat Hanh

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13.) You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer. – Thich Hat Hanh

15.) Fear, separation, hate and anger come from the wrong view that you and the Earth are two separate entities, the Earth is only the environment. You are in the centre and you want to do something for the Earth in order for you to survive. That is a dualistic way of seeing. – Thich Hat Hanh

17.) Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful. – Thich Hat Hanh

18.) If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy. – Thich Hat Hanh

19.) Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work. – Thich Hat Hanh

20.) When we recognize the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection, love is born. – Thich Hat Hanh

21.) You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life of peace, you inspire hope for a future of peace. – Thich Hat Hanh

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22.) We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living. – Thich Hat Hanh

23.) Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. – Thich Hat Hanh

24.) If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace. – Thich Hat Hanh

25.) We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal. – Thich Hat Hanh

Did you enjoy these Thich Hat Hanh quotes?

Thich Hat Hanh teachings seek to bring practical Buddhist wisdom into daily life. He has also written extensively on ways to find inner peace and inner happiness.

A cornerstone of Nhat Hanh’s teaching is the simplicity of being in the present moment. Hopefully, the above quotes have inspired you to be mindful and live a more meaningful life.

Which of these Thich Hat Hanh quotes resonated with you best? Do you have any other Thich Hat Hanh quotes to add to the list? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.